Pilotprosjekter

Pilotprosjekter, or pilot projects, are small-scale implementations of a proposed service, product, policy, or process designed to test feasibility, viability, and desirability before a broader rollout. They help organizations learn quickly with limited resources, reduce risk, and provide evidence for decision-making. They are typically time-bound, with a clearly defined scope and predefined success criteria.

Key features include limited scope and duration, clear objectives, representative but manageable participants or sites, stakeholder involvement, data collection plans, and a decision point on scaling.

Common steps include: define objective and success metrics; design the pilot; select participants or sites; implement; monitor and collect data; evaluate against criteria; decide to scale, modify, or terminate.

Risks include lack of generalizability, observer effects, sampling bias, ethical and privacy concerns, and unexpected costs. Good governance and regular reporting help mitigate these.

Evaluation combines quantitative metrics such as costs, throughput, adoption rates, and outcome indicators with qualitative feedback from users and implementers. The aim is to assess feasibility, impact, and sustainability for scale-up.

Examples: a municipality tests a digital waste collection app in two districts; a health service pilots telemedicine in a rural clinic; a school district pilots a blended learning model before district-wide rollout.

In practice, pilotprosjekter are common in innovation, policy development, and project management, serving as a bridge between concept and full implementation.